Your First Aikido Gi: What to Buy Before Starting

The good news first: Yoshinkan Aikido is one of the cheapest martial arts to start. You need exactly two things for your trial class—comfortable exercise clothing—and even your first real uniform can wait a few weeks while you decide the art is for you. This guide covers what to buy, what to skip, and when.

1. Week One: What You Already Own Works

For your first sessions, wear a t-shirt and long, loose sports pants—tracksuit bottoms or yoga-style leggings both work. You will be kneeling, rolling, and grabbing sleeves, so choose clothes you can move in hard and wash easily. Remove jewellery and watches before stepping on the mat (a rule explained in our dojo etiquette guide). Bare feet are standard; some students keep toe socks nearby for cold floors, nothing more is needed.

2. Choosing Your First Gi

The training uniform—the keikogi, or simply "gi"—is where most beginners overthink and overspend. Here is what actually matters:

• Buy a Judo-Cut Uniform: Judo gis use heavier cotton with reinforced knees and lapels—exactly right for an art that kneels (Suwari-waza) and grips sleeves constantly. Karate gis are lighter and tear at the knee seams far sooner under this workload.
• Weave Weight, Simplified: Single-weave cotton breathes and dries quickly—ideal for Kuala Lumpur's climate. Double-weave lasts longer and feels substantial but is hotter and pricier. Most KL practitioners are happiest starting single-weave.
• The Shrinkage Rule: Cotton gis shrink noticeably after early hot washes. Reputable sellers size for it, so follow the sizing chart honestly rather than buying small "to be safe."
• Sleeve and Skirt Length Matters: Sleeves ending near the wrist let partners grip safely without finger traps—a safety point, not fashion.

Ask senior members what they bought before ordering anything; dojo experience beats marketing every time, a principle our dojo-choosing guide applies to bigger decisions too.

3. Belts, and When a Hakama Enters

Your belt colour follows your grade—white through the kyu ranks toward black, as mapped in our grading syllabus guide. Buy nothing but white to start; coloured belts come from examinations, not shops.

The hakama—the wide pleated trousers seen on senior practitioners—is traditionally earned rather than purchased early. Customs vary between dojos, so the rule is simple: ask your instructor before buying one. Wearing a hakama changes how you move (footwork disappears from view, which is partly its historical purpose) and adds laundry complexity best postponed until your grade justifies it.

4. Optional Items, Honestly Ranked

• Worth It Soon: A small towel and flip-flops for walking off-mat (hygiene etiquette), plus tape for fingers once grip drills intensify.
• Later, If Desired: Knee support sleeves for long seated sessions—useful for some bodies doing seated techniques; a zafu-style cushion for beginners whose seiza needs easing during meditation segments.
• Skip Entirely: Weapons (bokken, jo, tanto), training knives, and specialty bags. Weapons belong to dojo instruction at appropriate grades—as our weapons guide explains, they arrive with supervision, never from an online cart.

Start Free, Buy Later

Shoreikan Dojo in Kepong runs free Saturday morning trial sessions precisely so nobody buys gear before falling in love with training. Chief Instructor Tony Chung (6th Dan) will tell you plainly what to purchase when the time comes. Book via our classes page, read the first-class walkthrough, or check contact details.

Canonical Literature & References

• Shioda, Gozo. (1968). Dynamic Aikido. Kodansha International.
• Shioda, Gozo. (1996). Total Aikido: The Master Course. Kodansha International.